Watch Rare Footage of Prince Recording “Purple Rain”

Watch Rare Footage of Prince Recording “Purple Rain”

One Aug. 3, 1983, Purple Rainwas born. Prince was a rising star—1999 had peaked at No. 9 on Billboard’s albums chart earlier that year—but he wasn’t yet an icon. When he played a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theatre that night, he debuted a brand-new lineup, complete with Wendy Melvoin on guitar, and he brought some new songs: “Let’s Go Crazy,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Baby I’m a Star,” and “Purple Rain.”

Footage of the 13-minute performance has surfaced before, and been taken down, but it’s now found its way back online. The performance was also later edited and overdubbed: This version includes a long instrumental introduction, an extended solo, and an extra verse (starting around 6:05), as noted in the video’s Pop-Up Video-style on-screen titles. But otherwise, Leeds explained, “That’s the version on the album. Thank God we got it on tape.”